“My argument against God was that the universe seemed so cruel and unjust. But how had I got this idea of just and unjust? A man does not call a line crooked unless he has some idea of a straight line.” – C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity
Independent of religious affiliations or belief systems, there seems to be consistency in our response to the condition of our nation. We instinctively know there is evil and wrongdoing. We share in hurt, tears and grief. We experience fear and hopelessness. We experience death.
Perhaps we’re left wondering if this is all there is. Is there any real hope for the future?
The message of Jesus Christ tells us yes, there is hope. And the hope is not lofty or myth. One day, everything wrong will be made right.
The Bible claims, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1). It may sound familiar, but let us not miss its importance. Before the world existed, God was there. He started the world, and he made all of it. And he made it all good [1]. His creation reflects his character. And that original goodness is still heavy upon our souls today.
Like we’re able to recognize a crooked line because we’ve seen a straight one, we’re able to recognize evil, because, as Lewis goes on to describe, “this is a good world that has gone wrong, but still retains the memory of what it ought to have been.”
This memory is what our souls long for.
Right now, we live in a distortion of the good. We watch as power is abused, words are misplaced, and labor is pained. And when we look in the mirror, we realize we’re part of the distortion. We, too, take advantage of power. We, too, say things we don’t mean. We, too, however innocently, make life more difficult for the people around us.
We can read books, set discipline standards, and rationalize our missteps. But we know we never arrive. We never achieve control of what’s around us. We never evade death.
Our outlook would remain bleak, but the same infinite God who created the world is the same God who loved the world, whose love compelled him to take part in it, to rescue it from the trajectory it was on. The Creator took on the nature of the created.
We know him as Jesus.
Fully man, fully God, he was born into the chaos and suffering himself. But he wasn’t born to flounder. In flesh, he was the ultimate good man, living without misstep. In death, he became the ultimate sacrifice, absorbing the death we inherited from our own wrongdoing. And in resurrection, he exemplified the ultimate eternal life, ascending to the Father and the kingdom he promises to bring us into.
When we put our faith and trust in Jesus, we get everything he gets. We become united with him the way a husband and wife become united, sharing bank accounts, a home, a life. We marry up. We get his Father, his kingdom, his life. Death will never do us part.
Even when peace isn’t a feeling, it is a condition, and it is a person. We are at peace with God, because of Jesus. We have unshakeable access to the Lord now, and we’ll have access to him forever.
Forever with our Lord is the fulfillment of everything wrong made right.
For the Bible doesn’t just give us a description of how things began, but it also gives an account for how everything will end. And so, begin again. While death was defeated at the cross, evil and suffering will be destroyed at the final day. Then, the book of Revelation foreshadows, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away… And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true,’” (Revelation 21:1, 5).
Praise God for our ability to recognize evil, the “crooked line” against the longing of our souls. Praise God for his mercy, to not leave us in the suffering alone. And praise God for his power, to defeat and destroy all the wrong that brings us hardship today. His Spirit is with us always, awaiting the day the crooked is made straight and he ushers us home, back to a new and good creation like everything originally began, never to be bent again.
(God) will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. – Revelation 21:4
[1] “And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good,” Genesis 1:31
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